Correspondence
Email to the media team at Nomad Foods.
The email outlined supply chain connections between Nomad's suppliers Northseafood Holland BV and Unibond Seafood and their respective connections to the processors Yantai Sanko Fisheries and Qingdao Tianyuan, both of which have accepted labor transfers from Xinjiang, China. The email asked for comment.
Sam Fulton, Group Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability emailed: "Is it possible to have some additional time – ideally a week - to allow us to investigate the information in your email with the suppliers mentioned and relevant auditors. It would also be helpful to understand when any article(s) is due to appear and the scope. For example, is your piece mostly focused on broader food processing or more specifically fish processing in China. Given that the processors you mentioned will have links to hundreds of companies, could you also let me know if your intention is for Nomad Foods or any of our brands to be a key focus or prominently featured in the piece?"
The Outlaw Ocean Project replied to Sam Fulton of Nomad Foods, providing additional context on the findings of the research as they concern Nomad and also on the publication of the findings. The email said that The Outlaw Ocean Project would need Nomad's response to the initial query by end of day August 10.
Sam Fulton of Nomad Foods emailed: "Our Supplier Code of Conduct, which is available on our website, outlines the standards that we, our suppliers, and their suppliers need to meet and exceed. This includes complying with all applicable human rights laws and regulations, for example, upholding the stronger of either the International Labour Organization standard or applicable local social and collective action rights of workers. Taking proactive action to identify, address and remediate any human rights risk and taking steps to ensure workers have decent working conditions is of critical importance to us. To help us to do this, please could you provide any evidence that you have related to your investigation showing forced labour linked to our products, so that we can fully investigate."
The Outlaw Ocean Project replied to Sam Fulton of Nomad Foods, saying we aren't able to reveal information on our sources or methods at this time, but we can say that we have authenticated video and/or images from each of the aforementioned plants, along with corroborating government and state media documents that demonstrate the presence of Uyghur workers.
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed Nomad Foods, saying: Our research further indicates that Nomad Foods brand Birds Eye is a large supplier to UK healthcare and (primary, secondary and higher) education facilities. Can Nomad confirm whether any seafood sourced from Qingdao Tianyuan, Yantai Sanko, Yantai Longwin or any Chinese processor has been supplied by Nomad brands to UK healthcare or education facilities since 2018? Can Nomad confirm that it is confident that no seafood produced through Uyghur forced labor has been supplied by its brands to UK healthcare or education facilities since 2018?
Sam Fulton at Nomad Foods replied: "As outlined in our earlier email Nomad Foods is committed to ensuring human rights are respected as outlined by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Our Supplier Code of Conduct, which is available on our website, outlines the standards that our suppliers and their suppliers need to meet and exceed. This includes complying with all applicable human rights laws and regulations, for example, upholding the stronger of either the International Labour Organisation standards or applicable local laws. Taking proactive action to identify, address and remedy human rights risk and taking steps to ensure workers have decent working conditions is of critical importance to us and we are committed to continually evolving our policies and due-diligence approaches to increase their effectiveness. Please could you provide any evidence that you have related to your investigation showing forced labour linked to our products, so that we can fully investigate in line with our commitment."